Earlier this year the kit was launched in the US, represents one of the most powerful LED UV curing systems available in the market. It enables most traditional UV and water-based flexo presses to be converted to LED UV curing, boosting productivity and environmental performance while reducing costs and waste. The LED UV curing lamp system is designed to operate with Fujifilm’s new 300 Series flexo inks, which are compatible with all plates designed to work with UV-based inks. Combined, the Illumina and 300 Series inks bring the benefits of LED UV curing to traditional flexo presses through a simple conversion process which takes two days or less to complete. According to Fujifilm, the Illumina’s compact design means the unit will fit easily onto most UV flexo presses of any width, and will also mount directly onto any water-based flexo press without the need to add an extra roller, generally required by some other LED retrofit systems.
“All of the presses that we’ve encountered so far in the US have been fully compatible for conversion. The requirements of a press from an installation perspective are very basic but, depending on the brand, there could be a situation where some presses older than 15 years old are not compatible,” said Fujifilm Graphic Systems Europe packaging segment manager Peter Verryt. “Though if the mounting for our lamps is not compatible then the mounting for any of our competitors’ lamps will not be compatible either. “Importantly, when we’ve talked to customers about it they don’t plan to put it on the oldest equipment in their print shop. So as we can go back 15 years I don’t believe we will have an issue.” One of the best characteristics is that it is said to produce less heat than other LED technologies, with the kit’s design enabling a potential energy saving of up to 90% compared with other traditional UV curing lamps. It has been said that device reduces the amount of stray UV light and noise. In result, it significantly reduces the footprint of power and chiller units in comparison to regular UV systems.
